Seventeen years, five clubs, twenty-three Ireland caps, ten operations, three metal pins – one in his ankle, one in his foot, one in his wrist. Five games this season, six months left on a contract at Burnley.

COLIN YOUNG: Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher may need surgery on a toe he broke in the last game of last season and is in danger of missing the start of pre-season under new manager Louis van Gaal.

COLIN YOUNG: West Ham striker Andy Carroll is hoping to derail Liverpool’s title challenge this weekend but has revealed he tipped his former club to lift the Premier League trophy on the first day of pre-season.

Alan Pardew may still have another three games suspension to serve away from the Newcastle United bench but if the Toon boss has one man to thank for any leniency in his original sentence it is Hull City’s David Meyler.

Sunderland have insisted they have done nothing wrong in fielding Ji Dong-won ineligibly earlier in the season. The under-fire Wearside club have issued a statement defending accusations they should be given a points deduction.

The Football Association have charged Hull striker Yannick Sagbo and Spurs’ Benoit Assou-Ekotto with improper conduct for their social media reactions to the ‘quenelle’ controversy but Manchester City’s Samir Nasri and Liverpool’s Mamadou Sakho have been censured.

Newcastle United will compete in the first ever Schalke 04 Cup in Germany this summer as part of their pre-season preparations. Alan Pardew’s side will join hosts Schalke 04, Spanish team Malaga CF and one other club in the four-team tournament at Gelsenkirchen´s VELTINS-Arena over the first weekend in August.

Sunderland manager Gus Poyet could have had his first day off for months last week but just an hour after an exploratory knee operation, he was back at his desk at the club’s Academy of Light training ground.

Once one of the best production lines in English football, Newcastle United will have no English players at this summer’s World Cup - although they could have six Frenchmen, three Dutchmen, two Argentines, a Nigerian and an Ivorian.

Hull City goalkeeper Allan McGregor must remain in hospital for another week and is out for the season. The Scotland international suffered kidney damage in a collision with West Ham’ s Mohamed Diame on Wednesday night.

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has urged fans to show more patience with striker Luuk de Jong, and promised the Holland international he has the rest of the season to earn a permanent move to St James’ Park.

Gus Poyet believes title-challengers Liverpool would be mid-table without Luis Suarez. The Sunderland boss takes his side to Anfield on Wednesday with the Reds looking to keep tabs on Chelsea and Manchester City.

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew is looking for three key players to continue making a difference for his team for the remainder of the season, so he can keep them next year. Papiss Cisse and Hatem Ben Arfa, who combined for Saturday’s winner against Crystal Palace, and midfielder enforcer Chieck Tiote are all in the category of players with an uncertain future at St James’ Park.

Sunderland’s home form is proving mystifying for manager Gus Poyet and his players. After attracting the biggest crowd at the Stadium of Light since the October derby at the weekend, Sunderland could only draw with relegation rivals Crystal Palace.